Taking you back to the sights, sounds, and the people of the 20th Century

April 7: Cinema

40 years ago in UK cinemas, Robert Mitchum is Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep (1978)

Meet Philip Marlowe, the toughest private eye whoever wore a trench coat, slapped a dame, and split his knuckles on a jawbone.

The Big Sleep is the second film version of Raymond Chandler’s 1939 novel of the same name. The picture was directed by Michael Winner and stars Robert Mitchum in his second film portrayal of the detective Philip Marlowe (his first was in Farewell, My Lovely in 1975). The cast includes Sarah Miles, Joan Collins, and Oliver Reed, also featuring James Stewart as General Sternwood.

The story’s setting was changed from 1940s Los Angeles to 1970s London. The film contained material more explicit than what could only be hinted at in the 1946 version, such as homosexuality, pornography and nudity. Mitchum was 60 at the time of filming, far older than Chandler’s 33-year-old Marlowe (or the 1946 film’s 38-year-old Marlowe played by a 44-year-old Bogart).